Sand elevating and treating apparatus



s..B. DAVIES 2,164,799

5mm ELEVATING AND TREATING APPARATUS I July 4, 1939.

Filed June 12, 1957 2 Sheets-Shet 1- f I 3.1mm

July 4, 1939. s, DAVlEs 2,164,799

SAND ELEVATING AND TREATIKG APPARATUS Filed Junel2, 1957 '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 wmiwm Patented July 4, 1939 UNITED STATES ATE NT OF'Frl CE SAND ELEVATING AN!) TREATING APPARATUS Stanley Royer Foundry and '3. Davies, Kingston, Pa., assignor to Machine 00., Kingston,

1 Claim.

Thisinvention relates to material elevating and treating apparatus and is designed for use in foundries where it is desired to collect used molders sand from the foundry floor and condition it for reuse.

The present machine, while capable of many uses, is particularly adapted for foundries wherein the molding machines are positioned against the wall, and the molds, when made, are placed on the floor in front of the molding machines. After these molds are broken up, the material must be treated and put back against the wall or alongside the molding machines for the purpose of remolding additional parts. Regardless of the length of windrows or the area of sand to be treated, the present machine is designed to move forwardly into the pile of used sand, elevate and transfer it to a :sand treating belt and then project it forwardly of the elevator and advancing machine where itwill bedeposited in a specified area either against the foundry wall or by the side of a particular molding machine.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will now be more particularly described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure l is a side elevation of the sand elevating and treating machine.

Figure 2 is an end elevation thereof as viewed from the front.

Figure 3 is an end elevation thereof as viewed from the rear, and

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail view of the means for retaining the cable shaft in locked position.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral l0 designates a main truck frame having front wheels II through which power is transmitted to the truck, and small rear wheels I2. A bucket elevator I3 is mounted at the front of the frame H1 and at one side thereof. This elevator is designed to collect used sand from a foundry floor and discharge it into a transversely arranged spout I4 which deposits the sand upon an inclined sand treating mechanism l5 mounted on the frame in rear and at one side of the elevator l3. This mechanism is of the type shown in Patent No. 1,559,915, Royer, Nov. 3, 1925, and comprises a power driven sand treating belt it which treats and conditions the sand and then projects it forwardly of the elevator and machine at a specified place adjacent a molding machine (not shown) where it is ready for reuse.

The elevator I3 is of the usual bucket type comprising a plurality of buckets [1 carried by an endless belt or sprocket l8 which is mounted on and between upper and lower sprocket wheels or pulleys l9 and 20 respectively, The elevator is enclosed within a suitable casing 2| and the lower end of this casing is extended laterally on each side of the buckets for the purpose of housing a cross conveyor 22 which is adapted to break up and feed the used sand laterally to the lower buckets ll, as the machine is moved forwardly into the pile of sand. This cross conveyor may be of any suitable type and in the present instance, comprises helical elements 23 mounted on a cross-shaft 24 which also supports the lower sprocket wheel 2|).

As clearly shown in Figure 1, during the nor mal operation of the machine, the bucket elevator is designed to rest on the foundry floor in advance of the frame Ill. Links 25 connect the lower end of the elevator casing to the front of the frame It and means are provided to support the upper end of the elevator and to lift and re- 20 tain it in raised position when it is desired to transport the machine from one place to another after the sand elevating and treating operations have been completed. This means comprises an upright support 26 mounted at the front of the '25 frame Ill. A pair of spaced pulleys 27 are mounted in suitable brackets 28 at the top of the support 26 and these pulleys are grooved to receive longitudinal edges of plates 29 secured to the rear of the elevator casing 2|. In the normal "30 operation of the machine, the elevator will rest upon the foundry floor and be supported in its upright position by reason of the plates 29 resting in the grooved pulleys 21.

The means for raising the elevator off the foun- '35 dry floor comprises a pair of cables 30, each cable having one end thereof connected to one side of the rear portion of the elevator casing directly below one of the plates 29, as at 3|. The other end of the cable is wound upon a cross-shaft 32 40 journalled in the upright support 26. Each cable 30 passes over a pulley 33 journalled in one of the brackets 28 adjacent one of the pulleys 21. The cables then extend downwardly toward the lower end of the elevator casing and pass around 5 lower pulleys 34, the brackets 35 of which are connected to coil springs 36 which in turn are suitably connected to the elevator casing. Each cable, after passing around its pulley 34, then extends upwardly and iswound around the shaft 50 32. One end of this shaft extends through the support 26 and has mounted thereon a hand wheel 31. For the purpose of preventing unwinding of the cables 30, the shaft 32 also has mounted thereon adjacent the hand wheel 31, 55

a ratchet wheel 38 and this cooperates with a gravity actuated pawl 39 to permit rotation of the shaft in one direction only. Thus, when it is desired to lift the elevator off the foundry floor, it is merely necessary for the attendant to rotate the hand wheel 31 in a clockwise direction as shown in Figure 4. This will rotate the shaft 32 and wind the cables 38 thereon. By reason of the association of the cables with the pulleys 33 and 34, the elevator will be lifted, with the plates 29 riding on the pulleys 21. The lower links 25 will space the elevator from the frame It and prevent rearward movement of the lower portion of the elevator against the front of the frame ill.

Any desired means may be employed for driving the machine and operating the elevator and sand treating mechanism and in the present instance, I disclose one means whereby the elevator and the frame I are operated from a common source of power. Referring to Figures 1 and 3, it will be observed that the rear of the frame it is utilized to support an electric motor 49 and a gear reducing unit 4|, this unit being positioned at one side of the motor and operatively connected thereto by the cross-shaft 42. The unit 4| may be of any desired construction and for this reason, is only shown diagrammatically. Power is taken from one side of the unit 4| to operate the drive 43 which through the chain 4 1, actuates the, elevator. In this connection, the chain 44 passes around a driven wheel 45 mounted on shaft 46 which also carries the upper sprocket or pulley IS. The chain then passes around the sprockets 41 and then rearwardly to the takeoff 43.

The sprockets 41 and wheel 45 are preferably housed in an auxiliary casing 48, with the sprockets being suitably mounted on the main elevator casing 2|.

On the opposite side of the unit 4! from the take-off 43 is a drive 49 to a cross-shaft 50. This shaft has journalled on opposite ends thereof, gears 5|, and these mesh with internal ring gears 52 mounted on and forming a part of the front wheels I l. The sand treating mechanism i5 is preferably operated from a separate source such as by an electric motor (not shown).

With the invention as above described, and when it is desired to recondition and transfer used molders sand to a position convenient for reuse adjacent a molding machine, the frame IS with the elevator positioned in front thereof and resting on the foundry floor, is moved forwardly by operation of the motor 40. The motor associated with the sand belt, will also be placed in operation. With the gear reducing unit M arranged for forward propulsion of the machine, the

latter, through the gears 5i and 52, will slowly move cross conveyor 22 and the lower end of the elevator into a pile or windrow of used sand. The helical blades 22 will cut up the sand and direct it laterally into the lowermost buckets of the elevator where it will be lifted to the top and then discharged through the transverse chute down upon the sand treating belt I 6. As is usual in this type of sand treating device, a hopper 53 is positioned above the belt it to accommodate the sand being discharged from the chute l4 and to retain it on the belt. The sand, as it falls upon the belt it, will be reconditioned and treated and then projected forwardly of the advancing elevator and frame it! to a specified point adjacent one or more molding machines (not shown).

It will be observed that the lower discharge end of the chute l4 projects into and overlaps the hopper 53 when the elevator is in operative position. When the elevator is lifted, the chute M will be free to move relative to the hopper, since it is mounted on and supported by the elevator casing 2 i.

If desired, a shaking screen (not shown) may be mounted on the machine between the elevator and the sand treating belt. That is, the sand discharged from the top of the elevator may first be subjected to a screening operation before passing to the sand belt. This is, of course, optional and the screen may be applied to the machine or omitted, as desired.

It is to be understood that the mechanism for operating the elevator and machine may be modified and that such other variations from the construction herein shown and described, as are within the skill of a mechanic, may be made without departing from the range of my invention.

I claim:

In a machine of the class described, thecombination of a supporting vehicle; an elevating mechanism disposed at the front and to one side of the longitudinal center of the vehicle; a sand conditioning and throwing belt mounted at the front and on the other side of the longitudinal center of the vehicle and traveling in a forward direction; transversely disposed means to deliver sand from said elevating mechanism to said forwardly traveling belt, whereby the conditioned sand will be thrown in a direction forwardly of the movement of the vehicle; and a horizontal floor engaging spiral conveyor extending across the front of the vehicle and having sand engaging sections of different lengths positioned on opposite sides of the lower end of the elevating mechanism and adapted to feed sand inwardly to said elevating mechanism.

STANLEY B. DAVIES. 

